'Occupy Wall Street' Protesters Were Set Up by the NYPD

I wonder if the NYPD ever made over 700 arrests in one day before the Occupy Wall Street protests.That's 700 arrests, by the way, of people who weren't actually breaking the law. Of people who were, in fact, merely following police orders.

Yes, the Occupy Wall Street movement carries on, despite reports of unwarranted arrests and police brutality suffered by peaceful protesters over the past week. But today's events could be considered the most outrageously heavy-handed tactics employed by law enforcement yet.

"Accounts vary," but video evidence supports claims that the NYPD led some 500 demonstrators into one lane of traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge, were they were then corralled with orange netting and arrested.

Of course the police are telling a slightly different story ...

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Deputy commissioner Paul Browne says that protesters were clearly instructed to stay on the bridge's pedestrian walkway, which runs at a level above the road, and that those who ignored this directive to proceed along the vehicular roadway are the only ones who were arrested.

So what really happened in the Battle of Brooklyn Bridge, as it's already being called?

Some protesters are taking a neutral stance, saying that the whole thing was a miscommunication of sorts: There was a bottleneck leading into the pedestrian walkway and demonstrators were under the impression that the vehicular roadway was open to them.

Whichever way the whole mess got started, I find it nearly impossible to defend the officers who arrested a girl who appears to be in her early teens. Her age hasn't been confirmed, but the young woman's appearance was youthful enough for the sight of her being led off in handcuffs to elicit shouts of "You're arresting a child!" and "Shame, shame, shame" from the surrounding crowd. Really? The kid's hat has animal ears on it, NYPD. This is what a threat to security looks like?

Check out this video clip and tell me what you think ...

Did the NYPD cross the line in the so-called Battle of the Brooklyn Bridge?